The Optus Outage, unpacked.. – B6 Technology | Perth IT Specialists

Have you considered the impact the recent Optus outage could have had on your business? What if I told you that with proper planning, the damage could have been avoided altogether?

While the media has extensively covered Optus’ handling of the outage, let’s focus on what matters most – your business. With the right planning and services, your organization could have sidestepped the challenges posed by this unexpected disruption.

1. Lost Productivity

Real organizations, real staff, and real clients were left in the lurch during the outage. Telehealth clinics couldn’t connect with patients, GP practices faced challenges in processing Medicare claims, settlement agencies and banks couldn’t attend property transactions, and courier drivers struggled with delivery information.

2. Lost Opportunity

Prospective clients seeking information or services were unable to get through, potentially leading them to explore alternatives. Small businesses relying on Optus for connectivity to support their Point-of-Sale and payment processing had to turn clients away.

3. Breach of Contract

Many B2B service businesses, working under contracted KPIs, not only lost potential revenue but also face financial penalties due to breaches in their contractual obligations.

4. Staff Overtime

Some businesses had to compensate staff for additional hours to compensate for the lost productivity during the outage.

The economic damage resulting from this outage is significant and, at a macro level, perhaps incalculable.

5. Reputation and goodwill

Extending beyond the operational challenges, the impact of Optus’ outage wasn’t just felt by Optus—it reverberated through your business.

Clients rely on your steadfastness, and failure to glean lessons from this experience might prompt them to reevaluate their decision to engage with your services. It’s not merely an outage; it’s a test of your commitment to reliability as a service provider.

The Solution

Solutions to mitigate such issues have existed for a long time. With a few hours of planning and modest service costs, businesses could have been better prepared for the Optus outage. Your IT services provider can work with you to understand your business processes and recommend suitable solutions.

Solutions might include:

Secondary access link

If your concern is your ability to continue interacting with customers, a secondary access service comprising 5G, 4G or NBN access technologies might be sufficient to allowed continued operations in the event of an outage. These options have come to the fore in recent years with ubiquitous access to high speed cabled and wired broadband in metropolitan areas. Even in the regions, SpaceX’ Starlink is capable of providing a ‘near fixed-line experience’, ensuring that you can avoid turning customers away.

Most commercial-grade network equipment is licensed to support this functionality out of the box. Your IT services provider can advise you on whether this option is suitable for you.

SDWAN

For customers operating across multiple sites SDWAN is a technology that can be used to manage multiple links, and pick the ‘best path’, ensuring that your sites remain in contact and that your applications continue performing even during a communications outage. Again, your infrastructure needs to be equipped with this feature for this option to be available.

Not every solution is appropriate for every business. B6 Technology, your Perth IT Services Provider, is equipped to work with you to understand your business processes, and design a solution that keeps your business running.

In Closing

Telecommunication outages are inevitable. Instead of questioning ‘if,’ ask ‘when.’ Even top-tier providers like Telstra have faced similar, albeit shorter, outages. No single provider is immune to outages. Redundancy is critical if your business relies on connectivity to operate. Solutions are available to ensure your business remains resilient in the face of disruptions.